Mostly Murder (But Sometimes Not)

New episode up now, man! We watched The Big Lebowski and started right in with quoting this cult classic. We discussed the character of The Dude and his place in the story, as well as examining the other very Coen-y characters that fill out The Dude’s world. We get into the complications of Walter’s personality and the military industrial complex, Donny’s enigmatic qualities, and how framing the m...

New episode out now! We watched the pilot episode/movie of The No . 1 Ladies ' Detective Agency. We discuss the unique challenges Precious faces in opening her detective business, think that the characters all feel fleshed out despite some initial stereotyping, and love that the entire series was shot on location in Botswana. We get into how this is less a ‘murder mystery’ series with a body-of-th...

New episode up now! We watched the 2020 film The Kid Detective starring Adam Brody and wow—everyone in this movie needs therapy. We discuss the clear themes of trauma and depression that thread throughout, love the use of cinematography and music to aid the storytelling, are surprised by how dark the movie gets, and talk about the expectations vs reality of both Abe Applebaum and the town of Willo...

New episode out now! We explore the world of Jane Austen with the 2013 miniseries Death Comes to Pemberley , based on the 2011 novel of the same name. We get into the disjointed feeling we felt while watching and try to figure out what this adaptation was really trying to be - a murder mystery with Austen characters or Austen fanservice with a background murder? A romance? A courtroom drama? All o...

New episode out now! We did something a little different this time - we played a video game! We played Hitman 3 Level 2, “Death in the Family”, where we had the opportunity to impersonate a PI and solve a murder mystery in a traditional English country manor. We compare our different strategies of gathering clues and interviewing suspects, get absolutely delighted by the efficiency of one of our a...

New episode out now! We finally cover one of TV’s greatest crime-solvers⁠— Columbo ! We watched the season three episode titled “Lovely But Lethal” and get into this ‘70s (and ‘90s) era sleuth. We discuss our initial feelings about the man himself, point out how bothersome he seems when you first watch the show, and debate how effective his methods actually are. We come up with Columbo’s-wife-theo...

New episode out now! We visit the Great White North with an episode of Murdoch Mysteries , season nine’s “Raised on Robbery”. We debate whether the blatant anachronisms are charming or terrible, try to unravel the unnecessarily complicated robbery plot, and have some unflattering observations about the writing, acting, and editing. We also discuss the odd cleanliness of the sets, speculate about w...

New episode out now! We delve into mid-century noir with the 1955 film Kiss Me Deadly . We discuss the nature of hard-boiled detective stories and their inclination to create an ideal square-jawed “dark hero”, and how Mike Hammer seems to be (perhaps purposefully) a weird parody of that. We talk about how almost every character is a terrible, unlikeable person, lament the appalling treatment and d...

New episode out now! We watched the 1973 whodunit film The Last of Sheila , and listeners, this movie has LAYERS. We discuss the journey of watching the film and thinking we knew where it was going, only to discover there was another twist or reveal that proved we were wrong. We get into the confusing experience we had watching it but how it all settles and fits in perfectly by the end, realize th...

New episode out now! We head to the Island and watch the infamous season three episode of LOST titled “Exposé”, aka the Nikki-and-Paulo episode. We cover the controversial episode’s place within the mythos of the show, argue about whether the investigative characters actually solve anything or just noticed anomalies, revisit the structure of the show as a whole, debate multiple character motivatio...

New episode out NOW! We’re shaking things up for the month of December! It’s the last of four brand new episodes along the same theme: the game Crack the Case. It’s Casemas 2: Electric Boogaloo! Crack the Case is a Milton Bradley party game that came out in 1993 where players ask yes or no questions in order to solve a mystery. We’re putting our detective skills to the test! Mack hosts week four,...

New episode out NOW! We’re shaking things up for the month of December. It’s the third of four brand new episodes along the same theme: the game Crack the Case. It’s Casemas 2: Electric Boogaloo! Crack the Case is a Milton Bradley party game that came out in 1993 where players ask yes or no questions in order to solve a mystery. We’re putting our detective skills to the test! Maddy hosts week thre...

New episode out NOW! We’re shaking things up for the month of December! It’s the second of four brand new episodes along the same theme: the game Crack the Case. It’s Casemas 2: Electric Boogaloo! Crack the Case is a Milton Bradley party game that came out in 1993 where players ask yes or no questions in order to solve a mystery. We’re putting our detective skills to the test! Carrie hosts this ag...

New episode out NOW! We’re shaking things up for the month of December! For the next four weeks you’ll get a brand new episode along the same theme: the game Crack the Case. It’s Casemas 2: Electric Boogaloo! Crack the Case is a Milton Bradley party game that came out in 1993, where players ask yes or no questions in order to solve a mystery. We’re putting our detective skills to the test! Katy ho...

New episode out now! We discuss the pilot episode of Dexter , as well as some later parts of the show so mild spoiler warning! We talk about the complicated feelings we have towards the main character and whether we’re supposed to sympathize with him—is he a vigilante? A corrupt serial killer? Is what he does justice? Or is he ultimately wrong in his actions? We also get into the trope of the Neur...

New episode out now! We once again enter the world of Sherlock Holmes with 1959’s The Hound of the Baskervilles . We discuss the odd convergence of this classic story with the Hammer Horror treatment, examine how this adaptation portrays Holmes and Watson and how they compare to other versions, and lament the terrible portrayal of women in the film. We also discuss the real-life friendship between...

New special episode out now! We watched the entire first season of the new show Only Murders in the Building , a mystery-comedy starring Steve Martin, Martin Short, and Selena Gomez. So spoiler warning! We discuss the incredible chemistry between the three leads, admire how the show deconstructs and examines the true crime podcast craze, and follow a lot of threads that lead to red herrings. We pr...

New episode out now! We watched the pilot episode of Marcella , the British noir/drama with a very Nordic feel. We talked extensively about the main character and her issues, discussed how the show is simultaneously challenging gender roles but also feels a bit backwards, get grossed out by the graphic nature of the serial killer’s process, and wonder whether murder walls are actually helpful in r...

New episode out now! We cover the delightfully macabre storybook world of Pushing Daisies in the season one episode “Smell of Success”. We discuss the memorable and stylized worldbuilding created by Bryan Fuller, share a love of (almost) every character and their specific and/or oddball traits, talk about how the show approaches death in a whimsical manner, rave about the gorgeous, colorful, and e...

New episode out now! We delve into the world of horror comedy with Happy Death Day (2017). We discuss the surprising similarities between whodunits and slasher films, get a little confused by the time loops, complain about the “aspirations of wokeness” and the weird progressively dated aspects of the film, and only say the words “groundhog day” about 84 times. We also get into how much time is spe...

New episode out now! We revisit the character of Philip Marlowe in 1973’s The Long Goodbye . We cover the differences between the book character in The Big Sleep and this film version, wonder if we liked this version better solely because of Elliott Gould, share stories about the problematic method acting, and discuss the aggressive 1970s-ness of this movie. We delve back into the methods and mean...

New episode out now and it’s our 50th!!! To celebrate we cover one of our favorite characters and total badass, Miss Marple. We watched the series 3 episode of Agatha Christie’s Marple “At Bertram’s Hotel” and discussed the many, many threads and red herrings present in this classic Christie mystery. We marvel at Miss Marple’s attention to detail, try to decide if we enjoy the false leads if they...

New episode out now! We finish our mini-jaunt into the 1980s mystery scene with a major crossover event—Magnum meets Jessica Fletcher! We watched Magnum, P.I.’s “Novel Connection” and Murder She Wrote’s “Magnum On Ice” back to back, which made the differences in the shows pretty apparent. We compare their investigative skills and strategies, rage at how they both touch evidence, wonder how each wr...

New episode out now! We watched the pilot episode of Lucifer and it really revealed some of our inner thoughts...and desires? We talked about how it was surprisingly structured as a procedural but with the literal devil as an investigator, discussed the family dynamics of the angels, demons, and the Abrahamic religions themselves, lay out the difference between a “procedural” and “Christie mystery...

New episode up now! We explore the tropical ‘80s world of Magnum, P.I. with the third season episode “Of Sound Mind”. We discuss the surprising goofiness of Magnum as a character as well as his specific personality choices, realize he’s essentially living the teenage dream, dunk on the wooden playacting of his friends, wonder at the Odd Couple-ness of Magnum and Higgins, and come to the conclusion...